Garment bags



Nov. 22, 1960 H. A. ENRlcH 2,961,091

GARMENT BAGS Filed Nov. 29, 1957 g INVENTOR. 30 HENRY A. ENRICH ATTORNEY 2,961,091 GARMENT BAGS Henry A. Enrich, New York, N.Y., assigner to Henry A. Enrich & Co., Inc., New York, NX., a corporation of New York Filed Nov. 29, 1957, Ser. No. 699,760

6 Claims. (Cl. 206 7) This application relates to garment bags and is particularly directed to new and useful improvements therein.

Garment bags have heretofore been made with a centrally located bar for supporting clothing hangers. With this type of construction it is necessary to reach inside of the bag where vision is restricted, to Withdraw articles of clothing.

lt is an object of this invention to provide a garment bag including novel means for moving the clothing7 stored therewithin to the front of the bag so as to extend partially through the opening therein. It is also an object of this invention to provide a garment bag including novel tracking means for slidably moving clothing Within the garment bag forwardly so as to be more accessible, or rearwardly so as to become totally encased within the garment bag. Another object of this invention is to provide a pair of channeled tracking members within a garment bag from which a cross bar is suspended. which shall be so constructed that said cross bar may be slidably moved axially in the direction of said channel members with ease.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide in a garment bag of the type described, a means for rmly supporting said garment bag beneath a closet shelf so as to counteract the effect of changing Weight distribution as the clothing is slidably moved back and forth within the garment bag for removal of said clothing.

A further object of this invention is to provide in a garment bag of the type described an opening ap which will provide complete accessibility to the front of the garment bag and means to hold said ap in upright position while said flap is open.

Yet another object of this invention is to provide a garment bag of the type described which is practical and eilicient to a high degree in use, easily operated, simple in design and inexpensive to manufacture.

In the drawings: Y

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the garment bag in accordance with the present invention with the front ap closed;

Fig. 2 is a perspective View of another side of the garment bag with the front flap open and folded back;

Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional fragmentary view of the upper portion of the garment bag suspended from a closet shelf;

Fig. 4 is an elevational view of part of the suspension means; Y

Fig. 5 is a side view of a detail of a channeled tracking member;

Fig. 6 is a cross sectional view taken on the line 6 6 of Fig. 3 g

Fig, 7 is a cross sectional fragmentary view taken on the line 7 7 of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 8 is a cross sectional view taken on line 8 8 of Fig. 7.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, 10 indicates a garment bag in accordance with the present invention.

The actual bag enclosure 11 is formed of sheet material such as plastic. Bag 11 has a pair of opposed side walls 12 and 13 and a top wall 14, a bottom wall 15, a rear wall 16, and a front wall 17. Front wall 17 is formed with an opening flap 18 which may be sealed on one side and the top and bottom thereof by means of a zipper 19. A snap fastener cap 20 is fixed to one upper corner of the opening flap 18 and a snap fastener button 21 is fixed to the opposite side wall 13 of the bag 11 so that one flap 18 is opened. lt may be held in open position by the snap fastener.

The bag portion 11 of the garment zag 10 is supported by a rectangular support member 22 which may be formed of any suitable sheet material such as plywood and is located at the underside of top wall 14 of the bag. Attached to the underside of support member 22 are a pair of spaced channel tracks 23. Channel tracks 23 are spaced and parallel to each other and extend adjacent the front edge of support member Z2 to a point just farther than the center of support 22 towards the rear of support member 22. This point may be less than one inch beyond the center of the garment bag. The channel members are spaced as far apart as practicable and should lie just adjacent and within the side walls 12 and 13 of the garment bag.

Each channel member 23 is formed with a at elongated top wall 24 and a pair of downwardly and inwardly curved side flanges 25. Each end of each channel track 23 is biocked by an angle bracket 26. Each angle bracket 26 is formed with a vertical wall which overlies the end of the channel track. Formed at the bottom of the vertical wall of angle bracket 26 is a rearwardly extending tab 26a which is formed with a downwardly extending end lip 26b. Lip 26b is narrow enough to extend downwardly through the space between side anges 25 of channel track 23. A second angle bracket 27 is positioned at the end of each channel track 23. One wall 27a of angle bracket 27 abuts the underside of the end of the channel track 23 and the end vertical wall of bracket 26.

A second wall 2717 of bracket 27 is formed at a right angle to wall 27a and extends downwardly below the end of channel track 23. Wall portion 26a of bracket 26, and wall 27a of angle bracket 27 are fastened together by means of a bolt 28. The end portion 27h of bracket 27 serves as an end-stop and decorative piece for the channel tracks 23.

Slidably retained within each of the channel tracks 23 (Fig. 6) is sliding eyelet 30. Sliding eyelet 3i? is formed with an upper disc-shaped flange 31 and a lower discshaped flange 32, which are interconnected by a narrow neck portion 33. Flange 31 is positioned within the channel track 23, so that it rests on side anges 25 of said channel track. Neck portion 33 of the sliding eyelets extends downwardly between side flanges 25 of the channel tracks, and flange 32 flares outwardly below said curved side flanges. Extending downwardly from the lower surface of flange 32 of each sliding eyelet is a loop 34. Sliding eyelets 30 are preferably made of nylon.

A pair of S-shaped hooks are provided, formed with an upper hook portion 36 and a lower hook portion 37. Each of the S-shaped hooks is attached to one of the sliding eyelets 30 by means of upper hoop portion 35 passing through loop 34 thereof. Extending between and supported by S-shaped hooks 35 is a dowel 38. The ends of the dowel 38 are grippingly retained in the lower hook portions 37 of S-shaped hooks 35. Thus the dowel 38 will be suspended between channel tracks 23. The dowel 38 may slide back and forth along the length of channel tracks 23 by means of the sliding eyelets 30, as indicated by the arrow (Fig. 3). Dowel 38 will always be perpendicular to the channel tracks 23.

Clothing hangers 40 are supported by the dowel 38 Y Y I 2,961,091

within the garment bag, and clothing on the hangers may lbe moved into the garment bag by sliding the dowel 38 into the position shown inFig. 3. To remove clothes easily, the dowel is slid on eyelets 30 to the front end of the garment bag so'that part of the clothing extends through the front opening of the bag. The hangers may then be easily removed or the clothing may be takenfoff the han-gers while the hangers remain on dowel 38 in the garmentbag.

The garment bag is designed to be used in a closet having a shelf 45, a pair of end supports 46, and a cross bar 47 suspended between and supported by said 'end supports and disposed beneath shelf 45. Attached to support 22 of the garment bag are a pair of upstanding bag support hooks 4S. Support hooks 48 extend upwardly through suitable openings in the garment bag (in Atop wall 14 of the garment bag). Hooks 48 are spaced along the central transverse axis across the width of the garment bag. A pair of eye hooks 49 are attached to the support 22 and extend upwardly through suitable openings in top wall 14 of the garment bag. Eye hooks 49 are spaced along the lengthwise axis of the garment bag.

The weight of the garment bag is supported in the closet by hooks 48 engaging the cross bar 47 beneath the shelf 45. To prevent movement of the garment bag under changing weight loads, a pair of hooks Sti are attached to the underside of the shelf 45 directly over eye hooks 49 on the upper surface of the garment bag. Each eye'hook 49 is provided with a link of chain 51. The loose end of each Ychain 51 is hooked over the hook 5G which is directly above it. As shown in detai-l in Fig. 4, the chain is stretched taut and the appropriate end link placed over the hook to eiiect engagement. A few extra chain'links may be left hanging loose if they are not needed. Thus the garment bag may be supported securely by four point supports and adjustment may be made for the difference in height between cross bar 47 and shelf 45 of different closets.

When clothing supported from dowel 38 within the garment bag is moved forwardly toward the front `wall opening, the weight of the clothing will be supported by the front hook, eye, and chain support. When the clothing is moved rearwardly to the center of the garment bag, the garment bag will be heldV steady against rocking motion by the rearward hook, eye, and chain support. The use of nylon sliding eyes 30 will insure a smooth, quiet, and trouble-free sliding action of the dowel 38.

It will thus be seen that there is provided a device in which the several objects of this invention are achieved and which is well adapted to meet the conditions of practical use. Y' v As various possible embodiments might be made of the above invention, and as various changes might be made in the embodiment above set forth, it is to be understood that all matter herein set forth or shown in the accompanying drawings is to be interpreted asV illustrative and not in a limiting sense. Y Y

Having thus described the invention what is claimed is:

1. A garment bag adapted to be hung in a closet having a shelf and a crossbar underlying said shelf, said garment'bag being formed with a rigid top wall, a pair of spaced hook members extending upwardly from the transverse axis 'of said garment bag top wall, adapted to engage the cross bar of said closet, ilexible members extending upwardly from the forward and rearward ends of said garment bag top wall, and means to be attached to the closet shelf to engage said exible members in order to further support said garment bag, and a movable garment support member within said garment bag and slidably attached tothe underside of the top wall of said garment bag, and means to support said movable gar ment support member for sliding movement from a point underneath the middle of the garment bag top wall to a: point adjacent the front wall of said garment bag, said means to support said garment support member com-l prising a pair of parallel channel tracks at the underside of said garment bag top wall adjacent the side walls of' said garment bag, said channel tracks extending from a point adjacent the wall of said garment bag rearwardly to a point adjacent the middle of said garment bag topx wall, said channel tracks being formed with end stopl members, a sliding eyelet partially received within each channel track, an S-shaped hook suspended from each of said sliding eyelets, and said garment support member comprising a dowel received Within the lower portions of said S-shaped hooks, and extending therebetween, said dowel being adapted to support clothing hangers within said garment bag.

V2. A prismatic shaped ygarment bag comprising an elongated top Wall, lan elongated bottom wall, side walls interconnecting said top and bottom walls, a rear wall narrower than the side walls and interconnecting said top, bottom .and side walls, and a front wall opposed to the rear wall, said front wall being formed with an opening through which garments may be inserted into, or removed from the bag, a track at the underside of the top wall, and perpendicular to the front and rear walls and parallel to the side walls, a cross-bar slidable on the track and disposed parallel to the front and rear walls and perpendicular to the track, whereby a plurality of garment hangers may be hung on the cross-bar, and said track extending to said front wall, whereby the cross-bar may be moved to a position adjacent said opening in the front wall and whereby garment hangers hung on the cross-bar at right angles to the cross-bar and parallel to the track will project through the opening in the front wall when the cross-bar is at the front wall, to facilitate hanging garments on the garment hangers andV removing garments from and inserting garments into the bag, and whereby the cross-bar may be slidably moved rearwardly in the bag to a point midway between the front and rear walls, in which position, the garment hangers and garments hung thereon, will be wholly disposed within the bag.

3. The combination of claim 2, said track extending from adjacent the front wall to a point substantially midway from the front to the rear wall, only.

4. The combination of claim 3, said top, bottom, side, rear and front walls being made of exible sheet material, a rigid wall attached to the underside of the top wall, and said track being attached to the underside of the rigid wall.

5. The combination of claim 4, said track comprising a pair of parallel spaced tubular members disposed adjacent the side walls and having slots at their undersides, and members slidable in said tubular members and passing through said slots and having means at their lower ends engaging said cross-bar. y

6. The combination of claim 5, in combination with stops at the-ends of said tubular members.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Y Woodrui lan. 25, 

